12 or 13 amber lights seen moving from no. to so. one above the other over a wide area 20 mins. and slowly went out

At about 11:45 pm that saturday night I had to take our dog out,when I do I usually go for a short walk, the western skies were clear, I didnt notice many stars that night,then these amber lights caught my eye, I watched as they gradually came into view,they were spread (evenly spaced) across the western sky/I was still close to the house so I dragged the poor dog back in to get my wife, so I would have someone to back up what I had seen. The lights were bright and amber, a long way out and above the horizon, they were moving very slow from north to south,they seemed to be about the size of soccer balls..at the distance they were. I and my wife watched these lights for around twenty minutes Until one by one they gradually just went out.

I am 72 my wife is 64 we have never seen anything before like this..what (on earth) was this?